Waiting On Jesus…

Peter told Mark the events of Jesus’ life (Which are written down for us) are not just fond memories of an aging Apostle. They are inspired by The Spirit w/ reason & purpose! Thus the reading of 22 verses! They are all important for us. Here’s why…

Every OT book, story, event, & person is about Jesus in some way. The OT points to the coming Messiah. Jesus is a better Adam, a better Noah, a better Moses, a better king, a better Jonah, a better David.

In the same way, every event in Jesus’ life had purpose & meaning. Everything Jesus did either affirmed His Messiahship, was a picture of salvation, or affirmed His deity. Now, what does that mean for us?

When we read Scripture with these things in mind, they come alive! The Spirit reveals facets of Jesus, God, & salvation that have the beauty of a multifaceted diamond reflecting light. ThusMark 5:21-43… (PAUSETRANSITION)

In quick succession Jesus calmed a raging storm & cast out 2,000 demons from one person. These events in THIS passage took place right after those two events. What is taking three Sundays to examine took place within just a few hours of each other. Boom, boom, boom!

Peter included a name (Jarius, synagogue ruler) in his oral record to Mark for a reason. If anyone doubted his account, they could go talk to the Jarius himself! Peter includes details to support his story.

When Jarius came to Jesus, time was of the essence. His daughter was about to die. Jarius was emotionally stressed. Peter described to Mark that Jarius “Implored Jesus earnestly.” This will be important shortly.

Put yourself in Jarius’ place. YOUR child is sick. In a short time the illness has progressed quickly. You realize they will die unless there is some kind of miraculous intervention.

There was a raging storm just yesterday as you were by your child’s sickbed. The wind… torrential rain… lightening & thunder taking place outside your house represented what was going on in you over your child.

Then… as the storm was raging… it suddenly stopped! But your inner storm continued. You didn’t know WHY there was calm outside…

A short time later, someone told about the crazy man that lived in the tombs. They told you a man named Jesus cast out demons & now he’s in his right mind. You realize this must be the man who calmed the storm.

As you hear of this man’s power you wonder, “Maybe he can help my daughter! I will go & plead with him to heal my little girl!”

There is no anxiety like that of a parent when a child is fatally ill. I know because at one time one of our children had a serious potentially fatal illness. You’re willing to do anything to help your child…

Jarius was sure that a man who calmed a hurricane & heal a crazy man who lived in the tombs could certainly keep his daughter from dying. THIS is the situation… from Jarius’s perspective it was DIRE.

When Jarius sees Jesus getting out of the boat, he runs up to him… falls at his feet… & begs Jesus to come heal his daughter.

Realize something about this. Jarius was highly respected in the community. Men in his position were influential & paid HIM respect. To fall at anyone’s feet would be considered improper, an embarrassment.

Jarius didn’t care what people thought. His daughter was dying & Jesus could help her. So he humbled himself & begged…

Are we past our pride? Consider 1 Peter 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, 7 casting ALL your anxieties on Him, b/c He cares for you.

“Humble yourselves.” This is what Jarius did in falling at Jesus’ feet. It is what we do when we are pressed hard to pray. Are you there now?

Then there is the passage where Jesus teaches about prayer. He points out the importance of faith & going to God AND the sure response of God in Luke 18:7-8…

And (Jesus) said… “Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day & night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

When my children cry out to me… I come running! Will not God?

(Back to the story) Jesus responds to Jarius by going with him to his daughter. BUT THEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS!

Out of nowhere Jesus asks, “Who touched me?!” The Apostles said, “Who touched you? REALLY! Look at this crowd. And you ask us, ‘Who touched you?!’ We have no clue!” (May have rolled their eyes)

Peter tells Mark the back story to Jesus’ question. There was a woman with a CHRONIC disease. She’d had it for 12 years. She’d been to many doctors… but only just got worse. She too had seen the hurricane storm stop suddenly. She heard about Jesus healing the crazy man (vs 27). But she was different from Jarius. She was a nobody. She was considered unclean by everyone b/c of her continual bleeding.

Rather than publicly pleading with Jesus, she thought if she could just touch the bottom of His garment she’d be healed. She did (In fear & trembling)… & she was healed!

THIS is why Jesus asked the question. THIS is why Jesus stopped. THIS is why Jesus took time to encounter this lady. She was an outcast, a nobody, but Jesus stopped & took time to engage her. He told her, “Your faith has made you well; go in peace, & be healed of your disease.”

Q:Who do WE give attention to? Are there people we discount that Jesus would stop & engage? Let’s learn the lesson here!

Put yourself in Jarius’ place. Your daughter is dying& Jesus stops?! Time is critical! He could go back to her later, but not now! It’d be like a physician answering a code blue but stopped to take care of an ingrown toenail by chance! It’d be considered malpractice! But this isn’t the case w/ Jesus.

Do you have a timeline different from Jesus’? Who’s is right??

He’s never pressed for time, he created it! He’s never hurried, he rightly prioritizes all things, events, & situations. Let’s remember that!

While Jesus talked w/ the lady, a messenger told Jarius his daughter had died. Jarius?:“If he’d just not stopped…” Jesus heard the report & told Jarius, “Don’t fear, just believe.”

Did Jarius have a basis to believe? Storm, Gerasene, & lady Jesus just healed. Yes… he DID have a basis. He continued to believe because they went to his house anyway.

Do you have a basis to believe? Has God healed YOU? If you’re a C’ian, the answer is YES! Jesus has raised you from spiritual death to LIFE! He HAS calmed your storms. You’ve seen His power in other’s life. YOU DO HAVE A BASIS TO BELIEVE, IF you believe!

Jesus arrives where people are weeping. He says, “What’s up with all the tears? She’s not dead but just sleeping.” And they laugh!

Jesus puts them all out. He takes the dad, mom, Peter, James, & John to the girl was. He takes her by the hand & says, “Honey, it’s time to wake up…” (“Talitha cumi” is an endearing parental statement).

Jesus, without so much as breaking a sweat, takes the girl by the hand & she sits up & starts her day as if waking from a nap. Jesus has power over death! That’s why he wasn’t hurried healing the woman.

Q: Are we afraid God is waiting too long? Do we think we know better than God what needs to happen? Are we really that arrogant?

Jesus’ power over death is not restricted by time or circumstances. It is just as easy for Him to bring life someone who’s been dead for hours or days (Lazarus) or years or people in tombs for centuries (Resurrection)!

Are you seeking Jesus for a pressing need? What is your timeline?

Drive this deep into your heart & soul. God knows where you are, what is going on in your life, & what you need (Vs. what you WANT). God is NEVER late… no matter the circumstances.Mt 6:25 (Turn!)

Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, & the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, & yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive & tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, & your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.